HealthTech industry is one of the biggest hotspots of this time. Millions of dollars are being invested to put technology in place and ameliorate the supply, delivery, payments, and consumption of high-quality healthcare. There’s a strong surge in the demand of healthcare information systems and medical wearables, and now Blockchain-based apps are also being introduced in the picture to fuel the disruption and shun the rising incidences of medical data breaches, billing-related fraudulent activities, and faltering operational performance.
The “Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market by Application (Supply Chain Management, Clinical Data Exchange, Interoperability, Claims Adjudication & Billing), End User (Pharmaceutical Companies, Healthcare Payers, Providers) – Global Forecast to 2023” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering that narrates the projected growth of Blockchain in the healthcare market. According to this report, the healthcare blockchain market is expected to reach USD 829.0 Million by 2023 from USD 53.9 Million in 2018, at a CAGR of 72.8%.” With this, we believe it’s safe to say that the impact this will create is going to be tremendous, making us write this post to highlight the primary ones highlighted in the PwC’s report A prescription for blockchain and healthcare: Reinvent or be reinvented. Have a read and see which areas can be reimagined by exploiting the humongous power of Blockchain.
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Medical Supply Chain and Inventory Management
Healthcare ecosystem is vast and comprises of various actors- pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, distributing agents, regulators, and many more have a part to play in delivering modern healthcare to consumers. All these can get greatly benefitted by the transaction tracking offered by Blockchain technology.
In the healthcare domain, Blockchain could be used to improve traceability and transparency in the supply chain. The report states- “Each time a company entered into a transaction with another company in the supply chain, that transaction would be recorded and validated on the blockchain. This would simplify the transfer of data and allow product recipients to validate their provenance with greater certainty. It would also significantly simplify transaction reconciliations and data transfers”.
This will also make recalls for regulators and suppliers easier.
Image Source– Pharmaceutical supply chain: Track and trace with blockchain
To add more, Blockchain enables all involved entities to “agree on a history”. This means one can be sure of the integrity of the supply chain and need not to bother about availing substandard or falsified medications.
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Collect, Manage and Share Patient Data with High Efficiency
In the traditional system, a patient’s medical records are scattered on multiple systems- it’s a rare case when you can find a patient’s data in a centralised repository. Moreover, there’s a huge lack of transparency between medical institutes and hospitals exchanging patient’s data, leading to data breach and a higher risk of medical errors leading to fatalities.
Simply put, securing, aggregating and managing patient’s data is one of the biggest roadblocks that is impacting the growth of the medical industry.
With Blockchain, it would be easier to pool all data and distribute t to authentic entities, while allowing ownership of data by patients. Strategic implementation of a Blockchain app can empower organisations to share medical records both nationally and cross-borders, thus stimulating better coordination between members of the healthcare world and lowering the risks and expenses involved.
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Risk Tracking and Regulatory Compliance
At present, risk tracking and compliance is a time-taking activity. Being crucial, it is imperative to get the deed done without any mistake. Currently, the regulatory compliance info is submitted by each individual and tracked manually. However, a Blockchain tool can be used to track compliance information stored in the distributed ledger and use a unique smart contract logic to ensure certain actions initiate necessary reporting.
Summing up: Blockchain is a profound technology and comes with the capacity to transform multiple aspects of the healthcare sector, including data, inventory, risk tracking, and back-office management. If you are considering to pilot this tech, it’s vital to think about possible use cases, functionalities and regulations and make an informed choice.
We at Studio FinTech are experts in Blockchain development and implementation. Our experts know how to leverage this tech and help multiple industries transform the way they function and think of transparency in workflow. For detailed info, opt for a quick consultation- get in touch with our team here.